Clayton Giddens and Bryce Fisher take first at Bixby Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Sand Springs sent three wrestlers to the recent Bixby USAOK Tournament earlier this month. 

Charles Page High School senior Sage Singleton placed 3rd in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman with an overall record of 3-2. Only four wrestlers competed in the 126 pound Junior division. In Freestyle, Brendan Clarke narrowly defeated Singleton by a 19-14 decision, but Singleton received a forfeit from Dalton Major in the consolation finals. In Greco Roman Singleton was pinned in 0:42 by Clarke, but defeated Major with back-to-back decisions of 8-3 and 18-12.

In Novice Greco-Roman, Clayton Giddens took first place with a trio of wins over Ethan Peterson of Sapulpa. He pinned his opponent twice, once in 1:08 and once in 1:36, and scored a 4-0 decision for the victory. He also placed first in Freestyle with a pair of pins over Camden Wicson in 1:44 and 1:29.

Bryce Fisher placed first in Novice Freestyle with a pair of pins at 120 pounds. He defeated Jayce Hitt in 0:59 and Luke Burdette in 0:57.

Carter Young takes first at Putnam City Freestyle Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Sand Springs middle-school student Carter Young is at it again, racking up a 3-1 record at the Putnam City Wrestling Tournament earlier this month. The two-time ASICS Kids Freestyle National Champion didn't have many opponents in the small tournament, but he sure had tough opponents.

First, he defeated two-time Division IV United States Junior Open Champion John Wiley of Mustang, Oklahoma by 10-0 tech fall. Then he defeated 2015 Division C US Junior Novice Champion and 2016 Brute Nationals Runner-Up Bradley Ballard 19-4 to take first place in Freestyle. 

In the Greco-Roman bracket he once again teched Ballard, this time 11-0. Unfortunately he had to forfeit to Wiley and settle for runner-up. With the exception of the one forfeit, Young is undefeated thus far in 2016 with twenty wins and six pins.

Sand Springs Wrestling Team qualifies four for Nationals

View fullsize

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School wrestling team was well represented at the OK USA National Team Qualifier at Union this weekend, and four wrestlers qualified for Nationals this summer in Fargo, North Dakota. 

Junior three-time undefeated OSSAA State Champion Daton Fix wrestled at 126 pounds in Junior Freestyle and had no problem breezing through his opponents, teching Omar Pollard and Jet Taylor 10-0 each, and receiving a forfeit from Karson Bellmard for first place.

Junior Jack Karstetter, a 2016 State Runner-Up, wrestled at 132 pounds and placed second in Junior Freestyle with a 3-1 record. He defeated Gage Gomez by 10-0 tech fall, then narrowly edged out Westmoore's Dalton Duffield in an 11-11 tie breaker. Duffield went 41-4 this past high school season and came in runner-up to Fix at the State Championships. Karstetter picked up another tech fall with an 18-8 win over Billy Simpson in the semifinals. The final round pitted Karstetter against Garrett Rowe of Choctaw. Rowe went 40-5 last season and secured his second-consecutive State Championship. Karstetter battled hard but lost by 12-8 decision.

Junior State Placer Michael Ritchey also wrestled at 132 pounds but failed to place after giving up losses to Rowe and Duffield. He did defeat Vincent Eremita 8-7 and Jacob Reeves 14-4, however. 

Senior Sage Singleton competed at 120 pounds and gave up tech falls of 10-0 and 16-6 to Zachery Bibb and Jakob Lyons, respectively. 

In the Cadet division, Sophomore State Qualifier Blake Sargent placed third in 132 with a 4-1 record. He teched Spencer Schickram 10-0 and Kenneth Wolford 11-0 before giving up an 11-6 decision to Rodrick Mosley. In the consolation bracket he once again defeated Schickram, this time 17-6, then defeated Bobby Robinson 14-8 to secure his spot at Nationals.

Clyde Boyd Middle School student Caleb Phillips wrestled at 120 and went 2-2. He teched Josiah Holliday 12-0 and pinned Cayden Nelson in 31 seconds before falling to Zach Williams by 0:53 pin. Ryder Ramsey teched Phillips 10-0 to eliminate him from contention.

Sage Singleton also wrestled at 120 pounds in Junior Greco-Roman and placed third with a 1-2 record after teching Justin McHenry 16-5, getting pinned in 0:37 by Jakob Lyons, and forfeiting to Garrett Wild. 

Seven Sandites take First Place at OK USA Youth State Championship

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Carter Wood, Michael Johnson, Clayton Giddens, Carter Young, Blake Jones, Sammy Naugle, and Jared Hill all placed first in their divisions at the Oklahoma USA Youth Wrestling State Championship last month, wrestling for Sand Springs Team Big, a club started by Charles Page High School assistant coach Derek Fix. Those champions are but a few on the long roster of incredible youth talent that represents the future of Sandite wrestling.

Jared Hill won the 92 lbs bracket in Division 5, the oldest division, in a close overtime matchup with Bryce Dauphin of Tuttle. Hill pinned his first opponent, Kilian McNichol of Owasso, in 1:06, then outlasted Copper Gibson (NEO) 11-7 on his way to the finals. Hill and Dauphin were tied 0-0 when regulation expired and the two entered into a sudden victory overtime period where the Team Big wrestler came out on top with a 2-pt takedown. This marks Hill's first tournament win of the year after coming in second at both the US Jr. Open Championships and the Ted Anderson Open.

Carter Young competed at 76 lbs in Division 4 and majored Collinsville's Jordan Cullors 10-1 in the opening round, then pinned Hunter Waits (RAW) in 1:29 before registering a 6-2 decision over John Wiley (Matrix WC) for his ninth tournament championship this school year. Young is a two-time consecutive ASICS Kids National Freestyle Champion and two-time consecutive ASICS Kids National Greco-Roman Runner-Up.

Blake Jones competed at 92 lbs in Division 4 and breezed through four opponents while only allowing a single point. He teched his first foe, Kaden Murray (Jay), 16-0, then defeated Jack Golowenski in the quarterfinals by 5-1 decision. His narrowest match was against Landon Valenzuela (Southmoore) 3-0 in the semis, but he finished up with a solid 6-0 decision over Reese Davis of Tuttle for his sixth tournament championship of the school year.

Michael Johnson competed at 52 lbs in Division 3 and didn't allow a single point over his three matches. Hunter Jackson (Elgin) and teammate Zander Grigsby each went down by way of major decision, 9-0 and 8-0 respectively. In the finals he defeated Jason Goodin (Moore) 7-0 for his ninth Championship this school year. Last summer he claimed his second consecutive ASICS Kids Freestyle National Championship title in Wisconsin.

Clayton Giddens competed at 58 lbs in Division 3 and pinned his first two opponents in nearly the exact same amount of time. Cash Donnell (StandFast Wrestling) fell in 2:51, followed by Dylan Abbott (Sperry) in 2:52. In the finals he was pitted against Bryson Humphries of Catoosa and triumphed by 6-0 decision. This makes Giddens's sixth tournament championship this school year. He also placed runner-up at the U.S. Jr. Open Championships. 

Sammy Naugle competed at 80 lbs in the Novice Division 4 bracket and defeated Keaton Story (Creek) 3-0 and Ransom Cosby (Blanchard) 2-0 en rout to the finals. There he was pitted against Garrett Washington (Glenpool) and won 6-3 for his fourth tournament championship of the school year and first of 2016.

Carter Wood competed at 60 lbs in the Novice Division 1 bracket, scoring a 0:46 fall over Trevor Engles (Blanchard), then defeated his next three opponents by decision. Alex Munoz (Collinsville) went down 2-0, Rylan Rinehart (Newcastle) fell 6-3, and Promised Johnson (Bristow) lost 8-6. This marks Wood's fifth championship this school year, winning tournaments at Owasso, Catoosa, and Sand Springs, as well as the 2016 Flo Novice Nationals. Not bad for a 6 year old. 

Other results are as follows...

Division 5

76 Dylan Luker, 4th Place

• defeated 6-2 by Caleb Hight
• defeated Jose Becerril 1-0
• teched 18-1 by Cryce Cockrell 
• defeated 4-2 by Cooper Britton

100 Brendon Wisely, DNP

• majored 9-0 by Josh Taylor
• defeated 4-1 by Agustus Edwards

100 Brandon Elrod, 4th Place

• pinned Mason Watts in 1:06
• defeated 3-0 by Ryder Ramsey
• majored Sheldon Roberts 9-0
• defeated Peyton Messenger 2-1
• defeated Eli Benham by 7-2 sudden victory
• defeated 4-2 by Ryder Ramsey in sudden victory

106 Seth Jones, 6th Place

• defeated 4-2 in sudden victory by Blake Gonzalez
• defeated Michael Harjo 5-2
• defeated 4-2 by Luke Surber
• defeated 3-0 by Remington White

120 Caleb Phillips, 5th Place

• pinned Brent Ingram in 0:34
• defeated 3-2 by Hunter Hall
• defeated 5-0 in sudden victory by Timothy Trigg
• pinned Matthew Thompson in 0:46

Division 4

63 Owen Martin, 2nd Place

• majored Gehrig Furr 9-0
• defeated Christian Forbes 6-2
• defeated 5-2 by Cole Brooks 
• majored Sam Smith 11-0

76 Colton Luker, DNP

• majored Silas Carney 8-0
• pinned in 1:21 by Reece Moffett
• pinned Owen Zellers in 0:44
• defeated 3-0 by Case Rich

80 Kaden Clark, DNP

• pinned in 1:24 by Micheal Edwards
• defeated Cohlson Peper 13-6
• pinned Sutton Little in 0:55
• majored 10-0 by Cutter Sheets

84 Cody Spann, DNP

• defeated 7-0 by Gabriel Fontanez
• majored Gunnor Yates 12-0
• defeated 2-0 by Casey Goss

Division 3

52 Jackson Martin, DNP

• pinned in 1:50 by Christopher Kiser
• defeated 4-2 by Cavin Pepper

52 Zander Grigsby, 4th Place

• defeated Iziah Tusler 6-2
• majored 8-0 by Michael Johnson
• defeated Cavin Pepper 4-3
• defeated 6-3 by Christopher Kiser

64 Mitchell Smith, 5th Place

• pinned Keller Kizarr in 2:48
• pinned Blade Walden in 2:36
• defeated 5-0 by Dylan Sie Palmer
• defeated 5-2 by Kason McGill
• defeated Louden Wolfe 4-2

110 James Winn, DNP

• pinned Jared Young in 0:29
• pinned in 2:03 by Balance Johnson
• defeated 2-0 by Julian Rash

285 Tyler B Smith, 5th Place

• pinned in 2:03 by Brezlyn Hightower
• pinned in 1:21 by JaKobe Sanders
• pinned in 1:51 by Lane Gourley
• pinned in 2:32 by Jarrod Whitmore

Division 2

43 Jaxon Grigsby, 3rd Place

• pinned Paxton Shultz in 0:37
• pinned in 2:44 by Jesse Justice
• majored Cooper Jackson 13-0
• pinned Will Meredith in 0:50
• defeated 8-2 by Mason Burnham

49 Ayreson Reiss, 6th Place

• majored 11-1 by Brynton Handshy
• teched Kannon Henn 15-0
• majored Evan Colbert 8-0
• pinned in 0:34 by Cayden Cupps
• pinned in 3:27 by Brynton Handshy

55 Hunter Spencer, DNP

• defeated 4-2 by Maddox Jackson
• defeated 3-2 by Terrel Parker

61 Zane Swafford, 5th Place

• majored Jase Winchester 10-1
• majored Bo Ware 17-3
• defeated 1-0 by Hayze Ivvey
• defeated 6-1 by Greyson Zellers
• teched Bo Ware 17-2

61 David Ritchey, DNP

• pinned Bradley Gallia in 0:30
• defeated 5-0 by Cache Pierson
• defeated Jace Simms 5-1
• defeated 11-8 by Greyson Zellers

70 Dallas Flores, 6th Place

• teched 18-1 by Gunner Tate
• defeated 6-0 by Pierce Davis
• pinned in 1:44 by Clete Gilbert

75 Jaxon Trotter, 3rd Place

• defeated Wyatt Hiesler 6-5
• defeated Owen Vaught 1-0
• pinned in 3:00 by Aiven Robbins
• defeated Wyatt Hiesler by 5-3 sudden victory
• majored Owen Vaught 9-1
• defeated 5-1 by Haydan Yocham

Division 1

52 Kasen McAffrey, 2nd Place

• defeated Maddox Young 9-5
• lost 5-0 to Andrew Moro

Novice 4

84 Ryder Barnes, 4th Place

• pinned Levi Rodgers in 1:49
• pinned in 0:23 by Gunnor Yates
• defeated 6-3 by Bryson Rouse

Novice 3

58 Dawsen Briscoe, 2nd Place

• pinned Preston Proffitt in 1:39
• pinned Carson Owen in 1:54
• defeated DJ Peterson 8-5
• pinned in 2:27 by Carson Orr

61 Blake Stewart, 4th Place

• pinned in 0:50 by Daniel Hernandez
• defeated Zoey Freeman 6-1
• pinned Dayton Aguilar in 2:33
• pinned in 0:35 by Nick White

85 Evan Williams, DNP

• defeated 8-2 by Vincent Vandiver 
• majored 12-0 by Tyler Hockett

Novice 2

49 Bradie Adams, 5th Place

• defeated 7-0 by Wiley Wilson
• pinned Matteo Carrasco in 2:27
• majored Andrew Howard 11-0

majored Brayden Harrison 11-2

• defeated 7-6 by Aidan Graves
• defeated Isaiah Carrasco 7-1

52 Kaden Pope, 3rd Place

• lost 1-0 in tie breaker to Jarrett Patty
• defeated Joseph Ketcher 6-0
• defeated Jaden Bixler 7-2
• majored Xzaivier Buzzard 8-0
• defeated Brock Copass 2-0

55 Colt Cothran, 3rd Place

• pinned AJ Oyer in 0:29
• defeated Luke Shaffer 9-2
• defeated 4-2 by Camden Whitby
• defeated Johnathan Blau 4-0
• defeated Aydin Machado 8-2

58 Landyn Barnes, DNP

• pinned in 0:46 by Jake Wassom
• pinned in 0:32 by Aiden Cox

61 Hunter Jewell, DNP

• pinned Bradley Gallia in 2:37
• majored 9-1 by Toby Shipman
• defeated 5-3 by Brody Byers

Novice 1

37 Asher Giddens, 3rd Place

• pinned Maddox Masters in 0:59
• pinned William Vaughan in 0:49
• pinned in 2:30 by Tabor Reiss 
• defeated Brynlyn Sullivan 7-3
• defeated Daxen Delaserta 9-7

37 Tabor Reiss, 2nd Place

• pinned Dalton Perkins in 0:43
• pinned Asher Giddens in 2:30
• lost 8-6 to Jon Zerzavy

46 Brody Bates, DNP

• pinned in 1:55 by Ashlyn Masters
• pinned Olen Appleton in 1:15
• majored Paul Howe 14-0
• majored 10-2 by Kale Shultz

49 Jayden Bussell, 5th Place

• pinned in 1:40 by Revin Flipps
• pinned Jakoby Bussell in 1:11
• pinned Hunter Stanford in 0:19
• pinned Jordan Weems in 0:25
• pinned Nathan Griffin in 0:31
• defeated 7-6 by Jaycob Graves
• defeated Kale Fruits 5-4

Sand Springs Black places third at Cleveland Junior High Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Sand Springs Junior High Black wrestling team placed 3rd at the Cleveland tournament last month. The White team placed 11th. Together the Sandites had eight placers and three champions. Brendon Wiseley, Hayden Cramer, and Caleb Phillips each won their prospective brackets.

• 80 - KJ Clark (3-2)
• 80 - Dylan Luker (3-2) - 4th Place
• 89 - Connor Lee (1-2)
• 98 - Hunter Carter (2-1) - Runner-Up
• 98 - Brendon Wiseley (4-0) - Champion
• 106 - Hunter Hilger (0-2)
• 106 - Kyler Clark (3-2)
• 106 - Jacob Rampy (4-2) - 4th Place
• 113 - Jacob Reed (1-2)
• 120 - Jared Jenkins (0-2)
• 120 - Caleb Phillips (4-0) - Champion
• 126 - Preston Medlin (2-2) 
• 132 - Braden Dahl (2-2)
• 140 - Josh Fincannon (3-2)
• 140 - Dayvon Taylor (3-1) - Runner-Up
• 150 - Tegen Campbell (0-2) 
• 162 - Justin Smith (1-2)
• 162 - Colton Sanders (2-2) - 4th Place
• 175 - Robbie Parrish (1-2)
• 175 - Hayden Cramer (3-0) - Champion
• 200 - Spencer O'Bryan (0-2)

TEAM Scores

1. Glenpool A, 159.5
2. Cleveland A, 151.5
3. Sand Springs Black, 148
4. Catoosa A, 138
5. Newkirk A, 137.5
6. Morrison, 122
7. Webster A, 90.5
8. Union B, 77.5
9. Claremore B, 74
10. Barnsdall A, 68
11. Sand Springs White, 61
12. Morris A, 34.5
13. Keys, 29
14. Glenpool B, 23
15. Morris b, 20.5
16. Pawhuska A, 20
17. Cleveland B, 17
18. Glenpool C, 16.5
19. Newkirk B, 8
20. Claremore C, 7
21. Holdenville, 4

Sandite Carter Young travels to Virginia Holiday Duals

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Sand Springs wrestler Carter Young traveled to the East Coast this past month to participate in the 2015 Virginia Holiday Duals as part of junior high team Oklahoma Outlaws. The group placed 19th out of 48 teams, several of which included state and national champions.

Young wrestled at the 80 pound weight class for the duration of the tournament.

In round one he was pitted against Jesse Mendez (2012 USA Nationals Champ, two-time Winter Nationals Champ, three-time Border War National Champ,  four-time USA Wrestling All American) and was dealt a 6-2 decision in Oklahoma's 41-14 loss to Illinois Orange. Illinois would go on to take 9th overall.

The whole team rebounded in round two and Young pinned Ethan Scurlock in 1:26 as the Outlaws defeated the Virginia Bandits 58-10 and followed it up with a 9-0 major decision over Isaiah Poppe to contribute to a 58-13 defeat of Terps Contender Elite. 

With a 2-1 record, the Outlaws took second in Pool 8 and joined the Silver bracket. 

Young's next match-up was closer, a 3-1 decision over Jake Bursese of The CREW. The Outlaws won that dual 43-19, but lost 34-28 in round two to Florida Team Greco who went on to take 4th in Silver. Young was edged out 2-0 by Brendon Abdon (ASICS Kids Nationals 4th-placer, USAW Preseason Nationals 3rd-placer).

In round three the Outlaws defeated Scorpions Black 39-33, but Young was unable to overcome Sean Rendeiro and once again barely lost 2-0. Terps MS Express beat the Outlaws 51-12 and Jordan Titus (2015 Great Lakes Champion) overcame Young 6-5. It would be his last loss of the tournament, however. 

Ohio Grey defeated Oklahoma 39-31 and Young won his match by forfeit.

In the consolation semifinals, the Outlaws were narrowly defeated 35-all by Team Pennsylvania Blue. Young edged Chanz Shearer 3-2, then finished out the tournament with a 4-1 decision over Pat Phillips to contribute to a 39-33 win over Apex Wrestling Club. 

Overall Young went 6-4 and the Outlaws were 5-5 with a 7th place finish in the Silver bracket.